Bush Environmental Adviser: Gore’s Film Gives The ‘Same Advice I’ve Been Giving For Years’
Bush Environmental Adviser: Gore’s Film Gives The ‘Same Advice I’ve Been Giving For Years’
When asked on Monday whether he would watch Al Gore’s new movie on global warming, An Inconvenient Truth, President Bush said, “Doubt it.â€
At a speech at the American Enterprise Institute on Monday, the White House Council on Environmental Quality Chairman Jim Connaughton distanced himself from his boss and advised the audience to go watch Gore’s film. According to E&E News (sub. req’d):
Connaughton also surprised some by praising Gore’s new film, “An Inconvenient Truth,” as well as the recent Advertising Council campaign sponsored by Environmental Defense and the Robertson Foundation. In both cases, Connaughton said the messages presented on both campaigns’ Web sites mirror the Bush administration’s themes of better consumer practices and development of new technologies.
“I encourage you to go to them,” Connaughton said. “They’re giving the same advice I’ve been giving for years.”
Gore’s advice in the film, which opens today in NYC and LA, is simple: “that the world is facing catastrophic climate change because of the negligence of mankind.†Politicians – including Bush – have failed to acknowledge the “inconvenient truth†that human activity is contributing to global warming.
If this is the “same advice†that the President is receiving from his senior environmental adviser, then why is Bush now arguing that we should “set aside†the scientific evidence?
Sort Comments By: Top Rated | Date
39 Responses to “Bush Environmental Adviser: Gore’s Film Gives The ‘Same Advice I’ve Been Giving For Years’”
Topic Cloud
ArchivesBlog Roll
Well it’s great to see a rational statement coming from anyone associated with this administration. Sadly, the poor guy will probably lose his job or be taken aside and muzzled. Nonetheless, it is a refreshing change.
more observations here:
http://www.thoughttheater.com
May 24th, 2006 at 12:40 pmpssst…Jim….nobody in the WH is listening to you. Just thought I’d let you know.
May 24th, 2006 at 12:43 pm“I encourage you to go to them,†Connaughton said. “They’re giving the same advice I’ve been giving for years.â€
I guess we know who’ll be next to resign… But, hey, way to go out with a bang! Good for Connaughton! And a bonus endorsement for Al Gore…
May 24th, 2006 at 12:46 pmHas anyone looked at this post? Any comments? I’m not saying it’s right - it’s actually a bit beyong me, so maybe I could get some insight:
http://sayanythingblog.com/ 2006/ 04/ 08/ anthroprogenic_nonsense_on_global_warming/
May 24th, 2006 at 12:46 pmWhy does Dubya avoid any opportunity to learn something?
May 24th, 2006 at 12:46 pmPresident Bush has reportedly called the recent EPA report that says human activities cause global warming “nothing more than a product of government bureaucracy.”
“I read the report put out by the bureaucracy,” Mr. Bush said dismissively when asked about the EPA report, adding that he still opposes the Kyoto treaty.
“They’re giving the same advice I’ve been giving for years.â€
What ever.
May 24th, 2006 at 12:47 pmI guess we know who is going to resign to spend time with his family soon…and bush will find somebody with their head shoved perminately up their rectal cavity to spout the party line of NOthing is wrong…everything is great …the MSM is liberal and lies…reality is liberal and can’t be trusted…science is not reliable..just those who God talks to..
May 24th, 2006 at 12:48 pmWhy does Dubya avoid any opportunity to learn something?
Comment by crazy canuck — May 24, 2006 @ 12:46 pm
Makes his head hurt?
Seriously - I’ve heard that nerves are capable of atrophying from a lack of use. He really is de-evolving back into a chimp. :)
May 24th, 2006 at 12:49 pmI’ve been diagnosed with life threatening cancer but I chose to set those tests aside and concentrate on the stock market, for if I don’t,I may not be as well-off finacially as I could be in the future. daaaaaaaaarrr
May 24th, 2006 at 12:50 pmIf this is the “same advice†that the President is receiving from his senior environmental adviser, then why is Bush now arguing that we should “set aside†the scientific evidence?
Because Jesus told him to.
How long do you think before Connaughton resigns to spend more time with the family?
May 24th, 2006 at 12:50 pm[President] Al Gore had some interesting thoughts in a recent MTV interview.
May 24th, 2006 at 12:51 pm“They’re giving the same advice I’ve been giving for years  The inconvenient truth meets a convenient lie
May 24th, 2006 at 12:51 pmI smell a new opening in the WH staff….seems that there’s a need for a new Chairman of Environmental Lies and Bullshit . Mr. Conna-whatever just got canned.
May 24th, 2006 at 12:53 pmTo put it simply Bush and his main entourage are in the pocket of Exxon-
May 24th, 2006 at 12:54 pmMobil and the Raymond’s crowd . Their motto is : i’ll take my 500 millions dollars thank you very much and after me , le deluge.
Has anyone looked at this post? Any comments? I’m not saying it’s right - it’s actually a bit beyong me, so maybe I could get some insight:
Comment by NewNameAcquired — May 24, 2006 @ 12:46 pm
It’s another blow hard neocon trying to be funny - but as usual - falling a punchline short.
The reality is that human activities have exaserbated the natural condition on our planet when the Earth warms between Ice Ages. The majority of respected and valid scientists agree that we have put a surplus of CO2 into the environment above and beyond what Mother Nature normally puts there - therefore elongating the warm spell (which normally lasts 1,000 years - and is already extended 200 beyond the normal cycle).
Ice core studies have reinforced the scientific analysis by showing 600,000 years of climate history on our planet.
Some people just refuse to take responsibility for themselves. The person who wrote this story is one of them.
May 24th, 2006 at 1:00 pmThat research is now in, and it shows a strong scientific consensus that an artificially warming world is a real phenomenon posing real danger:
The American Geophysical Union and American Meteorological Society in 2003 both declared that signs of global warming had become compelling.
In 2004 the American Association for the Advancement of Science said that there was no longer any “substantive disagreement in the scientific community” that artificial global warming is happening.
In 2005, the National Academy of Sciences joined the science academies of Britain, China, Germany, Japan and other nations in a joint statement saying, “There is now strong evidence that significant global warming is occurring.”
This year Mr. Karl of the climatic data center said research now supports “a substantial human impact on global temperature increases.”
And this month the Climate Change Science Program, the Bush administration’s coordinating agency for global-warming research, declared it had found “clear evidence of human influences on the climate system.”
Case closed. Earth’s surface, atmosphere and seas are warming; ocean currents are slowing; ice shelves are melting faster than projected; spring is coming ever sooner; rainfall patterns are changing; North American migratory birds are ranging father north; the ability of the earth to self-regulate to resist warming appears to be waning. While natural variation may play roles in climatic trends, overwhelming evidence points to the accumulation of greenhouse gases, mainly from the burning of fossil fuels, as the key.
http://www.nytimes.com/ 2006/ 05/ 24/ opinion/ 24easterbrook.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin
Global warming is scientifiuc fact…and ther human contribution to the problem is real..real enough that money could be made to reverse the effects, that is the only hope the neo-con idiots will ever look at it…but it is hope they will see $ signs and clime on board to stop the insanity of destroying the only biosphere we have to live in.
May 24th, 2006 at 1:09 pmHi unbelievable… I’ve been looking at the link that is cited in the post I mentioned. There are so many sources, I have no idea who is legit or not. I wouldn’t be surprised if he picked and chose which studies to listen to to make that report. But it makes me wonder how many of us just pick and choose which reports WE want to listen to support what we feel.
Just for easy access, the paper that he talks about in the post can be found here: http://www.geocraft.com/WVFossils/ice_ages.html
One thing I will say - the webpage on which the paper is presented looks pretty blah. Not to say that only decorated pages are legit, but it’s just interesting to see how it’s all presented. There is nothing “official” looking there. It could have been slapped together with anyone who had enough time to put the paper together.
Yet I still wonder if there is ANY truth in that. IS there truth that the earth warms like is doing now every few thousand years, such as it did to come out of the ice age?
Is it true that humans don’t even account for 10% of the CO2 that is being produced?
Is it true that volcanoes are releasing HUGE amounts of C02?
I really just want to be as completey fair and listen to both sides of the debate, which is hard for me to do because I’ve been so dead set on one side for so long. I just really want to know what the truth is for sure - and man is it getting difficult.
May 24th, 2006 at 1:12 pmUPDATE;
Environmental Quality Chairman Jim Connaughton office has been transferred to Nome Alaska effective immediately.
Nothing else to see here, move along
May 24th, 2006 at 1:12 pmSomeone has won recently a ticket to a free ride in a Jetstream to some -istan…
May 24th, 2006 at 1:20 pmI just really want to know what the truth is for sure - and man is it getting difficult.
Comment by NewNameAcquired — May 24, 2006 @ 1:12 pm
When companies like Exxon add their paid ‘Scientists” to the list of people talking about reality - well, it creates a lot of information to have to wade through.
One of the studies I think is really compelling is the Ice Core that was extracted from Antartica atthe end of last year. It is essentially an unbiased representation of what happened over the last 600,000 years. And from that study - they’ve been able to say - unequivocally - that CO2 concentration in the air is higher now than ever before. And that all previous periods of global warming were relatively similar in the quantities of CO2 in the environment.
For me, being a Science teacher - I just think it’s common sense that we (humans) produce a staggering amount of CO2 that would not be in the environment otherwise. And the more CO2 in the atmosphere, the hotter things get (see Venus for a prime example of what happens to a planet when there is a large amount of CO2 in the atmosphere).
Think about 6.3 billion people. It’s impossible for that many poeple NOT to have an impact in some ways. Which is why Mother Nature tries to keep a balance between the number of lifeforms in relation to the number of other lifeforms.
May 24th, 2006 at 1:28 pmi happened to catch a part of katie/todayshow’s interview with al gore this morning… she was a bit condescending but he held up great… i think he may have even won her over… more tomorrow was promised…
May 24th, 2006 at 1:37 pmEcopolitics is concerned with control and wealth re-distribution. Period. Ecowacks KNOW the earth has undergone a continuum of warming up and cooling down since the beginning of the earth. The Ice Ages and meltdowns of old were the result of natural changes such as subduction. (There weren’t billions of people to blame back then.) Honest environmentalists will let the rest of us know how the 15 “responsible” countries are faring under the terms of Kyoto.
May 24th, 2006 at 2:00 pmMighty,
Lets assume that the warming of the earth is a natural process, and I agree it’s hard to prove what the cause is. However, is this warming still a threat to our way of life regardless of the cause?
May 24th, 2006 at 2:08 pmFor Truth - Warming might eventually be a threat to some - especially the huge clusters of populations who tend to live on the coasts. My criticism of EcoWACKS is their arrogant presumption that THEY (and a coerced idiotcracy) can affect a globe- saving change… Remember, CO2 is necessary for plant life to endure, which vegans swear by. More of a threat to “our way of life” is “one world” globalism/socialism.
May 24th, 2006 at 2:20 pm#22:
MA, I’ve pointed this out to you before, but you ignored it then, so I’ll do it again:
The earth has gone through countless cycles of warming and cooling. That is correct. I’m not going to debate that. What I am going to point out is that those GRADUAL warming and cooling periods took place over tens of thousands of years. The recent temperature spike is occurring now over the period of decades. See the difference?
No, I’m guessing you don’t.
May 24th, 2006 at 2:21 pmYou don’t need to worry about that might dumbass. Bush has already redistributed the wealth in this country.
Mission accomplished.
May 24th, 2006 at 2:23 pmRemember, CO2 is necessary for plant life to endure, which vegans swear by. More of a threat to “our way of life†is “one world†globalism/socialism.
Comment by mighty aphrodite — May 24, 2006 @ 2:20 pm
What a completely idiotic thing to say. You must have watched the big oil advertisements telling us that CO2 is life, didn’t you?
No crud, CO2 is a waste product of combustion as well as respiration. And yes, plants consume it. But when we’re pumping it into the atmosphere faster than the plants can conume it, what do you think happens then?
It’s basic science, MA. Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas. It traps heat. That’s not something that can be argued. And if we continue to increase the amount of it in our atmosphere, the planet will trap more heat. Why is it so hard for you to connect the dots? I normally like to stay civil in these posts, but, man, you are dense.
May 24th, 2006 at 2:27 pmMA:
Please try reading some scientific information regarding carbon dioxide before you try to sound like you know what you are talking about. Here’s an excerpt of an article about it, click on it to read the whole thing if you’d like:
Carbon dioxide levels are now 27 percent higher than at any point in the last 650,000 years, according to research into Antarctic ice cores published on Thursday (November 2005) in Science.
Analysis of carbon dioxide in the ancient Antarctic ice showed that at no point in the past 650,000 years did levels approach today’s carbon dioxide concentrations of around 380 parts per million (ppm).
Today the United States, the world’s largest economy and consumer of energy, produces about 24% of global carbon dioxide emissions.
May 24th, 2006 at 2:30 pmDear bob kitten - This may surprise you - I understand the OFT (!!!!) repeated premise of the EcoWACKS. Please explain:
a.) how letting China and India off the pollution hook helps “the planet”
b.) who did Neanderthal and Medieval EcoWACKS blame for the EcoMESS before “humankinds” devastating selfishness? God?
I must leave but will check your enlightening response later….
May 24th, 2006 at 2:45 pmOnly republican dumbasses like you have let them off the hook, because you don’t believe in global warming.
Nobody, which is why we are in the mess we are in today.
May 24th, 2006 at 2:55 pma.) how letting China and India off the pollution hook helps “the planetâ€
It doesn’t. But then again, it’s not OUR job to police the world. We can truthfully only control our country. We produce 24% of the world’s CO2 emissions, more than anyone else. How about we try leading through example for once instead of leading by using force?
b.) who did Neanderthal and Medieval EcoWACKS blame for the EcoMESS before “humankinds†devastating selfishness? God?
Really. You don’t help your argument by making up insulting terms. It makes you look small minded and petty. And no, they had no one to blame. Because their lives were not dramatically impacted by the (sigh…. once again) GRADUAL temperature changes over (sigh… this point again) tens of thousands of years.
When in a single generation, the planet warms up a few degrees and as a result we end up with extreme weather, and increase in both numbers and strength of hurricanes, rising water levels, droughts, floods, etc., I consider that to be a problem. And, unlike you, instead of shrugging my shoulders and expecting someone else to deal with it, I’d like to see proactive approach taken to try to undo some of the vast damage that has been done and is still being done today.
May 24th, 2006 at 2:59 pmDid some dumbass just say something about carbon dioxide? Oy vey, you just can’t educate those in denial.
May 24th, 2006 at 3:14 pm[…] http://thinkprogress.org/ 2006/ 05/ 24/ bush-adviser-on-gore/ [link] […]
May 24th, 2006 at 3:35 pmConservative default brain mode is like that of an elderly person backing up without looking.
Remember, CO2 is necessary for plant life to endure, which vegans swear by
Nice passive aggressive smear using unbelievably DUMB, inverse logic.
Oxygen is essential to life, but if you breath pure O2 long enough YOU’RE DEAD.
May 24th, 2006 at 4:07 pmIronically, Gore says virtually the same thing at the beginning of his film: “I feel like I’ve been trying to tell this story for a long time but I’ve failed,†further demonstrating that lack of political will is in fact the earth’s greatest foe. Gore, however, doesn’t have Connaughton’s excuse. He was in a very powerful office for eight years and wasn’t able to pass legislation that may have halted a rapidly declining global climate. Let’s face it: global warming is not a creation of the Bush administration but an accumulation of decades of irresponsible corporate and political environmental policies.
Nevertheless, the past is behind us and we must move on. His retirement from the political realm has allowed Gore to make it a life goal to do now what he didn’t do then: spur political action to fix outdated, harmful policies and avert real environmental damage. Perhaps Connaughton will also retire soon and give presentations on the environmental policies he claims to have been touting for years. Working together, the two can spark further public debate with products like this film, which in turn will initiate voter and consumer activism against detrimental environmental policies.
May 24th, 2006 at 5:57 pmOh, this guy is SO spending more time with the family soon.
May 24th, 2006 at 8:31 pmWhat a bunch of crap…the world is warming because its supposed to not because we making it do it….I’m going to have my foot in my gas pedal of my big V8 engine all the way home just for you guys.
May 25th, 2006 at 3:02 pmI know atomic clocks are used to measure the precise time; are nuclear thermometers used to measure the precise temparature?
Oh, yeah. All measurements are man-made. “Mother Nature” does not wear a watch and does not listen to the weather channel. We are causing “global warming” by misreading time and temperature. A one degree increase for 6 of the last ten years makes for global warming? My own temperature moves up or down a degree depending on what I am doing.
Carbon credits? Sounds like a money making scam to replace Oil-for-Food. Can I sell my credits on Ebay?
May 25th, 2006 at 5:44 pmHOW MANY PEOPLE REMEMBER WE HAD A FAIRLY WARM PERIOD IN THE EARLY MIDDLE
June 5th, 2006 at 2:09 pmAGES SOME 800 YEARS AGO WINEYARDS WERE COMMON IN SOUTH ENGLAND ETC …
ICE CORES FROM VOSTOK IN ANTARCTICA SHOWS WARMING PRECEDES CO2 INCREASE BY SOME 800 YEARS … AND ALSO THAT TEMPERATURE THEN CAN DROP VERY RAPIDLY …SINCE 3 DAYS AGO 0.3 C …TOMORROW IS 060606 MY NAME STAFFAN …FAN MEANS DEVIL IN SWEDISH BE SCARED VERY SCARED GW BIGGEST
HOAX SINCE …OZONE DEPLETION…YOU NAME IT …{IM REALLY A SERIOUS CLIMATE
ANALYST BUT ALSO A STREET STAND UP COMEDIAN AND LATELY ON THE WEB …BW